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1 Dan Scribner, Joshua Project T wo thousand years ago the Lord gave us the command to make followers of Christ from among all the ethnic peoples of the world. Significant segments of the world are still considered unreached. In the light of such great need, how do we prioritize need in fulfilling the unfinished task of the Great Commission? Our purpose here is to identify criteria to determine the most needy unreached peoples, to apply these criteria to a database of people groups, and to generate an approximate list of priority unreached peoples. Prioritizing is potentially controversial. Need can be defined in many ways because an individual s values and beliefs strongly influence his or her priorities. Below is one attempt to recognize the unreached people groups currently most in need of evangelization. There are certainly other valid models and other sets of data that would yield somewhat different results. The data used in this model is available at download.php. Prioritization Model A Model for Determining the Most Needy Unreached The current Joshua Project list shows approximately 6,900 unreached peoples. The model presented here attempts to assign a score or priority ranking to each of these people groups. A scoring system from 0 to 100 is used, with 100 indicating the least Christian presence and influence. Scoring points are set in four general areas: or Least-Reached Peoples Editor s note: in this Mission Frontiers we return to a cover theme we last addressed almost three years ago: Which peoples need priority attention? To do so, we have invited Dan Scribner (director of Joshua Project) to share his perspective. For our following (January-February) issue, we have invited Todd Johnson (director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity) to tackle the same question. Note that we have more good material than print space available, so you ll find supplemental material on both the Mission Frontiers (missionfrontiers.org) and Joshua Project (joshuaproject.net) websites. (This related material explains definitions, the concept of understanding and acceptance, and Joshua Project itself.) As always, we welcome your comments and questions in response. 1) Progress of, or response to the Gospel (35% weighting, lower Christian presence = higher score). See the Joshua Project Progress Scale ( From On/Off to a Scale on page 9) for details of this measure. This scale is primarily based on % Evangelical and several churchplanting progress indicators. This criterion is given the greatest weight because it represents the most important factor in measuring the progress of the Gospel in a culture. 2) Population (25% weighting, larger people group = higher score). The rationale of this weighting is that the larger a people group, the more likely 6 November-December 2004 Mission Frontiers USCWM 1605 E. Elizabeth St. Pasadena, CA

2 it will have an influence on the smaller groups around it. The population weighting in this model will bias the results toward larger groups. Population would be a good criterion to try varying in other iterations of this model. 3) Country location (25% weighting, greater persecution level and less human development and lower national percent evangelical levels = higher score). This area attempts to measure the political, persecution, economic, educational and spiritual environment of a people group, based on their country of residence. 4) Ministry tool availability (15% weighting, fewer tools = higher score). This area is weighted least because a ministry tool can be produced but not necessarily available or in use. Within the criteria areas are various measures, each with value ranges that are assigned point scores. Table 1 outlines the scoring system. An overall score is generated for each people group by summing the points from all the criteria. People groups with the highest scores are suggested as the highest priority. Results On pages is a listing of the 233 highest-scoring people groups. These are all the groups that scored 83 and above using this prioritization method. The 83 scoring level is an arbitrary cutoff point for space reasons. Approximately 354 million individuals live in these 233 priority unreached people groups. Trends and Observations Trends by country, region, people cluster and religion emerge when applying this model. Table 2 outlines the rankings by country. It is interesting to note that the highest-scoring countries are located in North Africa, but the countries with the largest numbers of people groups are concentrated in the Middle East and China. Also of note is that nearly half of the 60 top-ranking people groups are located in the adjacent countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq. (A missionary serving in Pakistan recently visited Joshua Project and claimed that as Pakistan goes, so goes the Middle East and Muslim world. ) The 10/40 Window is prominent in this prioritization. Of the 233 peoples on this list, 216 live in countries within the 10/40 Window. Patrick Johnstone has developed the concept of Affinity Blocs and People Clusters. (See the Definitions article on the Joshua Project website.) People Clusters are a way of associating similar people groups. These larger clusters are often the more commonly recognized people names in the missions community. Table 3 shows the prioritization scores across People Clusters. Interesting trends emerge in Indonesia. While only seven Indonesian groups are in the top 233, there are numerous Indonesia groups scoring between 75 and 82 that do not appear on this list for space reasons. (Complete data is available at While Indonesia ranks somewhat down the list in ranking as a country, the People Cluster ranking in Table 3 would suggest that there are strong pockets of unreached in various areas of Indonesia and other areas of significantly-reached Indonesian peoples. Note the number of People Clusters in Sumatra. Table 4 lists the religion rankings. Islamic groups dominate the list, followed by Traditional ethnic religions, Hinduism and Buddhism. Weighting Somewhat Determines Trends We would encourage other weightings and models to be applied to this data. The weightings in this prioritization model will somewhat pre-determine the trends. For Mission Frontiers November-December

3 example: People group population size was weighted quite heavily; thus, small groups tend not to appear on the list. Countries resistant to Christianity were significantly weighted, so groups in those countries will tend to appear on the list. Less-developed and poorer nations were weighted, so again groups in those countries will tend to appear on the list. Issues and Notes Joshua Project numbers do not necessarily sum to 100, and priority is given to input from on-the-ground researchers. This can sometimes cause a bit of a data fruit-salad effect, but hopefully this reflects reality as much as possible. Different researchers close to the situation may have different perceptions, but even though these may differ, they may be more accurate than those of someone removed from the situation. While continually being refined and updated by a network of missions researchers, the Joshua Project ethnic people groups database still has errors, duplicates, older data and data gaps. In the process of developing this prioritization model, several errors were found and corrected as well as duplicates merged. It is very possible that some of the people groups on this list should not be ranked as highly because of significant church-planting movements that Joshua Project is unaware of. We welcome any and all feedback regarding this data and ranking. Data on the Joshua Project Website is the latest available and may vary slightly from the data listed in this article. A Unimax Peoples List? Hopefully the Joshua Project all peoples database represents another step toward a unimax peoples list. A Unimax people is defined as the maximum sized group sufficiently unified to be the target of a single people movement to Christ, where unified refers to the fact that there are no significant barriers of either understanding or acceptance to stop the spread of the gospel ( Finishing the Task, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, Winter / Koch, 1999). While the Joshua Project list goes beyond traditional ethnolinguistic lists and allows religion, caste and various cultural distinctives to define a people group, Unimax peoples may involve distinctives (such as education, political and ideological convictions, historical enmity between clans or tribes, customs and behaviors, etc.) that are not considered in the current Joshua Project list of peoples. Conclusion This list of priority peoples can serve as a focal point to bring the gospel to some of the most needy people groups in the world. Yet at the same time, existing ministry among people groups not on this list should 8 November-December 2004 Mission Frontiers USCWM 1605 E. Elizabeth St. Pasadena, CA

4 not be considered irrelevant or less important. Every individual is of infinite value, whether he or she lives in the most unreached people group or next door. The King of Kings is worthy of worship from every tribe, tongue, nation and people. Scripture promises that there will be some from every people group in heaven before the Throne. As Dr. John Piper has exhorted, let us demonstrate and spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. Sociologists have recently researched what percentage of a population needs to be influenced to impact the whole group, and the answer was 2%. Interestingly, this is the same criterion that has often been used to define unreached. If a people group is less than 2% Evangelical (see website for definitions), then it has often been considered unreached. Contact Information General PO Box Colorado Springs, CO USA Office: Fax: Article-specific Website: Dan Scribner has served with the U.S. Center for World Mission since He currently is seconded to Joshua Project and serves as its director. Dan and Mary have four children and reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado. From On/Off to a Scale Joshua Project Progress Scale This term unreached has been greatly used by God over the past several decades. However, a limitation of the term has been the tendency to suggest a yes / no or an on / off toggle situation. How much difference is there between a people with 1.9% Evangelical and another with 2.1% Evangelical? The first may be labeled unreached, the second reached (or possibly, to use a double negative, not unreached ), yet in reality the two groups are quite similar in status. To help address this on/off issue, Joshua Project uses the terms unreached and least-reached inter-changeably. The term least-reached suggests a scale or progression rather than an unreached / reached toggle. To accommodate a range of values, Joshua Project has developed a Progress Scale. This scale highlights the unreached / least-reached as well as those groups with a large percentage of nominal adherents, but few believers. This progress scale was developed by integrating % Evangelical, % Adherents data, Patrick Johnstone Church Planting Indicators (CPI), IMB- SBC Church Planting Progress Indicators, Morelia Scale, World Christian Encyclopedia status and other local progress scales. None of these indicators alone has values for all Joshua Project peoples, but by combining them a standard scale can be generated and applied to all Joshua Project people groups. There are instances where the above progress indicators do not agree and are inconsistent with one another. In these cases the Joshua Project scale takes a middle ground approach and approximates an average across the various indicators. on ns per Progress Scale Mission Frontiers November-December

9 A Model for Determining the Most Needy Unreached or Least-Reached Peoples Definitions Evangelical Followers of Christ who generally emphasize: 1. The Lord Jesus Christ as the sole source of salvation through faith in Him. 2. Personal faith and conversion with regeneration by the Holy Spirit. 3. A recognition of the inspired Word of God as the only basis for faith and living. 4. Commitment to biblical preaching and evangelism that brings others to faith in Christ. Evangelicals are defined here as 1. All affiliated Christians (church members, their children, etc.) of denominations that are evangelical in theology as defined above. 2. The proportion of the affiliated Christians in other denominations (that are not wholly evangelical in theology) who would hold evangelical views. 3. The proportion of affiliated Christians in denominations in non-western nations (where doctrinal positions are less well defined) that would be regard as Evangelicals by those in the above categories. (Source: Operation World - Patrick Johnstone) Christian Adherent One who claims to be a follower of the Christian religion in any form. This definition is based on the individual s self-confession, not his or her ecclesiology, theology or religious commitment and experience. This includes professing and affiliated adults and also their children (practicing and non-practicing) who reside in a given area or country, or who are of a particular ethnolinguistic or ethno-cultural people in the listing below. This is the broadest possible classification of Christian and includes the six ecclesiological types of Christians: Protestant, Roman Catholic, Other Catholic, Orthodox, Foreign marginal, and Indigenous marginal as defined in Operation World. Christian Adherent numbers include the Evangelicals subset. (Source: Operation World - Patrick Johnstone) Unreached A people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group. Joshua Project uses criteria of less than 2% Evangelical Christian and less than 5% Christian Adherents to define unreached. (Source: Lausanne 1982, USCWM, Joshua Project) Church Progress Indicator (CPI) 0 to 5 ranking of the progress of church growth among a particular people group. Supporting data may or may not be available. (Source: Patrick Johnstone) 0 No known believers 1 No churches, some believers 2 One known church 3 Group of churches 4 Reproducing church movement 5 Widespread, discipled church Status of World Evangelization (International Mission Board-SBC Indicator) The Status of Global Evangelization is a model that describes the progress of the Gospel among the peoples of the world by considering: 1. The extent to which a people group is Evangelical. 2. Accessibility to the Gospel. 3. Church planting activity, whether localized or widespread, within the past 2 years. (Source: 0 No evangelical Christians or churches. No access to major evangelical print, audio, visual, or human resources 1 Less than 2% Evangelical. Some evangelical resources available, but no active church planting within the past 2 years. 2 Less than 2 % Evangelical. Initial (localized) church planting within the past 2 years. 3 Less than 2% Evangelical. Widespread church planting within the past 2 years. 4 Greater than or equal to 2% Evangelical 5 Greater than or equal to 5% Evangelical 6 Greater than or equal to 10% Evangelical 7 Unknown Joshua Project PO Box Colorado Springs, CO Office: Fax:

10 A Model for Determining the Most Needy Unreached or Least-Reached Peoples Joshua Project Distinctives Mission The mission of Joshua Project is to identify and draw attention to the people groups of the world that have the least exposure to the Gospel and the least Christian presence in their midst. Joshua Project seeks to answer the questions that result from the Great Commission s call to make disciples among every people: Who are the ethnic people groups of the world? Which people groups still need an initial church-planting movement in their midst? Accurate, regularly-updated ethnic people group information is critical for understanding the unfinished task of the Great Commission and for effective coordination of mission agency efforts. History Joshua Project was birthed within the former AD2000 and Beyond Movement. The original Joshua Project list was a cooperative and globally circulated list of the largest unreached ethno-linguistic people groups and related ministry activity data. The Joshua Project list attempted to provide a clear goal of pioneer church-planting among the largest unreached peoples. Joshua Project has since expanded this list to all peoples regardless of size and moved from a purely ethno-linguistic to an ethnic people focus. Gather, Integrate and Disperse Joshua Project compiles people group data to encourage church-planting movements among unreached ethnic people groups. Information is gathered from a worldwide constituency of field workers and their agencies, brought together into a common database, and provided free of charge to the global Church. Joshua Project serves mission agencies, denominations, churches, and individuals around the world that have a heart for pioneer church-planting among the world s least-reached people groups. Not a perfect set of numbers Joshua Project numbers do not necessarily "sum to 100" and priority is given to input from on-the-ground researchers. This can sometimes cause a bit of a data "fruit-salad" effect, but hopefully this reflects reality as much as possible. Different researchers close to the situation may have different perceptions, but even though these may differ, they may be more accurate than those of someone removed from the situation. People Group Relationships Patrick Johnstone has developed the concept of Affinity Blocs and People Clusters to create a tree of people group relationships. Peoples are broadly grouped into 16 blocs with affinities based on language, culture, religion, politics. In nearly every Bloc there are widely dissimilar and unrelated linguistic minorities, but often there is one particular culture that is dominant. Next within each Affinity Bloc are a number of more closely related peoples which, for strategic purposes, may be clustered together. These relationships are often based on a common identity of language and name but sometimes on the basis of culture, religion, economy, or dominance of one group over another. Almost all People Clusters have total populations of over one million. It is likely that each People Cluster will need an international partnership of Christian churches and agencies for the effective evangelization of each constituent people group. Joshua Project PO Box Colorado Springs, CO Office: Fax:

11 A Model for Determining the Most Needy Unreached or Least-Reached Peoples Joshua Project Distinctives Current Joshua Project counts: Affinity Blocs 16 People Clusters 236 People Groups ~10,100 Peoples-by-Country ~15,950 Exposure versus Response Joshua Project tracks both exposure and response with an emphasis on the latter. Joshua Project highlights Quadrants I and II with a particular focus on those with the lowest response. These would be considered the unreached or least-reached (below the dotted line.) Increasing Response Quadrant III Low Exposure High Response (Naga of India) Quadrant I Low Exposure Low Response (Bedouin Arab) Quadrant IV High Exposure High Response (South Koreans) Quadrant II High Exposure Low Response (Japanese) Unreached / Least-Reached Increasing Exposure What is A People Group? The Lausanne 1982 people group definition says "For evangelization purposes, a people group is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance". Joshua Project fully endorses this definition. The Joshua Project list is just a step toward a yet to be defined larger peoples list. A true peoples list would be a unimax peoples list. Unimax people are defined as the maximum sized group sufficiently unified to be the target of a single people movement to Christ, where unified refers to the fact that there are no significant barriers of either understanding or acceptance to stop the spread of the gospel. ( Finishing the Task," Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, Winter and Koch, 1999) Joshua Project PO Box Colorado Springs, CO Office: Fax:

12 A Model for Determining the Most Needy Unreached or Least-Reached Peoples Joshua Project Distinctives Toward Greater Clarity of the Unfinished Task The 1982 peoples definition began a process of identifying the unreached peoples of the world that is still not complete. Because of the remarkable language research compiled in the last 100 years, the global people group lists of the 1990 s were ethno-linguistic, meaning that a people was defined by language. These included the Integrated Strategic Planning Database of the IMB-SBC, the original Joshua Project list, the peoples listed in Operation World and the World Christian Encyclopedia. These were excellent efforts and have great usefulness as a helpful target for language-oriented ministries. While language is a key barrier to understanding, in parts of the world factors other than language significantly limit acceptance. Thus for church planting purposes, there is a need to allow factors other than language to determine the boundaries of a people group. (See Sidebar on Acceptance and Understanding) Joshua Project tracks ethnic people groups where, in addition to language, distinctives such as religion, caste and culture can define a people group. In parts of the world where peoples are defined by their language an ethnic peoples list and an ethno-linguistic peoples list are virtually the same. However in places like South Asia, parts of North Africa and China, where religion, caste and culture are more determinative than language in defining a people group, an ethnic peoples list and an ethno-linguistic list can be quite different. For example, in India there are approximately 450 ethno-linguistic people / language groups but at least 2,300 ethnic people groups when caste, religion and other factors are considered. A Unimax Peoples list? Unimax peoples may involve distinctives such as education, political and ideological convictions, historical enmity between clans or tribes, customs and behaviors, etc. that are not considered in the current Joshua Project list of ethnic peoples. Thus, while the Joshua Project list offers an increased level of understanding regarding people group church-planting needs, it is not a complete Unimax peoples list. There will be barriers of acceptance that will only be determined once workers are on-site. May the Lord grant wisdom and discernment in the move toward better understanding the unfinished task of the Great Commission. Dates People Group lists Characteristics 1982 Estimated Largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance 1990 s Integrated Strategic Planning Database Original Joshua Project list Operation World peoples lists World Christian Encyclopedia Ethno-linguistic: (people group = language group) Addresses barriers of understanding Outreach oriented around language Current Future Goal Joshua Project Registry of Peoples (ROP) PeopleGroups.org Unimax peoples list Ethnic: (people group can be defined by language, religion, caste or culture) Addresses barriers of understanding and begins to address barriers of acceptance Outreach oriented to church planting Unimax: (people group defined as ethnic above and also including education, political and ideological convictions, historical enmity between clans or tribes, customs and behaviors distinctives. Fully addresses barriers of understanding and acceptance Likely known only as workers are on-site Joshua Project PO Box Colorado Springs, CO Office: Fax:

13 A Model for Determining the Most Needy Unreached or Least-Reached Peoples Understanding and Acceptance By Bill Morrison Understanding and Acceptance The 1982 Lausanne Committee Chicago meeting peoples definition again says "For evangelization purposes, a people group is the largest group within which the Gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance." There are two barriers cited, (1) understanding, and (2) acceptance. The barrier of understanding suggests that language always is important when defining a people group. If for a particular situation the understanding barrier is more important than the acceptance barrier then defining people group by language, perhaps exclusively by language, is appropriate. This seems to be the case in many cultures and situations. In other situations the acceptance barrier may be as high, or perhaps higher, than the understanding barrier. The reasons for lack of acceptance may include caste, religious tradition, location, common histories and traditions, and other subtle cultural distinctives. In these situations the barrier of acceptance should be considered on an equal footing with the barrier of understanding, and sometimes acceptance is a higher barrier than is the barrier of understanding. Understandability and Acceptance Ministry Objective Language-based outreaches such as Bible translations, audio and video recordings, radio, TV, Internet, mass evangelism campaigns. Situations where understandability is the highest barrier (I) Focus on linguistic groups, not ignoring local ethnic issues Situations where acceptance is the highest barrier (II) Focus on linguistic groups, not ignoring local ethnic issues Planting, establishing and growing the Church within its local culture (III) Focus on linguistic groups, not ignoring local ethnic issues (IV) Focus on ethnic groups, not ignoring language A list of people groups as identified by their language supports quadrants I, II, and III. A list of people groups as identified by cultural distinctives in addition to language supports all quadrants, including quadrant IV. It should be recognized that the two lists (one identifying people groups by language, the other identifying people groups by language plus significant cultural distinctives) will be almost identical for situations where the understandability barrier is the highest barrier. Strengths and Weaknesses The various people group models based on understanding and/or acceptance have different strengths and serve different purposes. A specific ethno-linguistic list has a very quantifiable criterion - language, and serves as a helpful target for language oriented ministries. An ethnic peoples list considers non-language distinctives, which are harder to quantify. An ethnic peoples list presents a specific church planting target and helps answer the question where has the Gospel not gone? Both language oriented and church planting oriented peoples lists are important. Joshua Project seeks to support language-based outreaches by tracking ministry tool availability (Bible translation status, Jesus film, audio recordings, radio broadcasting), but we especially seek to support church planting. In the areas of the world where churches don t form readily around language groups we attempt to identify the ethnic groups.

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